Arriving in Hanoi in Vietnam was an experience in itself, only one word can truly describe it - mayhem. Both of us have never before witnessed such a cramped, congested, chaotic and bustling city. Mopeds whizzing past like swarms of wasps carrying 3 or 4 passengers, sometimes a sheet of glass, a lifesize portrait or even a few pigs, bound and gagged being driven to the slaughter house. We rode through the city to our hotel in silence, agog to what we were witnessing.

Hanoi is a wonderful city, particularly the old town. Decaying buildings, some of the narrowest in the world, disorderly and clumped together with a thin street in between. It's certainly a unique sensory experience walking the streets, vivid colours in every direction, the markets are hot, smelly, dirty and crowded but strangely enticing. When walking you have to watch every step for fear of tripping over, falling down a hole, stepping in something undesirable or being run down by a speeding moped! Taking a cyclo around the town is a more relaxed method and allows the luxury of looking around you and fully taking in the surroundings while someone else provides the pedal power!

With 5 days to kill before James' sister, Emily, and her boyfriend, Joe, arrived, we spent 3 days at Halong Bay, cruising around the limestone karsts and soaking up the tranquility on our posh boat! We also ventured south of Hanoi to Tam Coc and Cuc Phuong National Park, hiring a moped and braving the roads...with no mirrors on the bike I was the eyes and ears on the back whilst James gripped the handles hard, "lorry approaching, 100 metres" (said in Sat-Nav voice) before the lorry would announce itself with a deafening horn blow in our ears and a choking plume of exhaust in our faces!

The Vietnamese are similar to the people of Laos - warm, friendly, hospitable and nosey, always ready to fire the questions. The once-war-ravaged land is now healthy, green and beautiful and it's difficult to imagine just what life was like here 40 years ago. Seeing the older generation creates umpteen questions about life during the war and the atrocities they experienced. The suffering is clear to see on their faces, some of which are disfigured from bombs and presumably as a result of Agent Orange.

You know the world is a crazy place when local women are covering their bodies from head to toe, even wearing shirts with built-in gloves to cover their hands! We found it extremely difficult to buy suncream with a factor lower than 80, or to buy moisturising cream without whitening. Millions of dollars are spent in the East on lotions & potions and procedures for whitening the skin (whiter skin equals riches, health and prosperity) whilst in the West, we spend even more on tanning products to make our skin darker, and some would say, more beautiful. Utter madness!

Joe and Emily arrived and we spent a few days milling around Hanoi, shopping, drinking and catching up, great to see them after a year. We next all headed south to Hue, a town thriving on the Perfume River and set beside the ancient citadel. We spent a few days on day trips seeing the sights before we continued on our journey south to Hoi An, famous for handmade silk tailoring. The majority of our time here was spent darting around the town for umpteen fittings a day for dresses, suits and jackets. A great experience but exhausting and draining on our energy levels and wallets!

Next stop on our tour of Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, formally known as Saigon. Emily was an expert on the city having spent 3 months here 4 years ago, so she reminisced in bars and restaurants and we soaked in the chaos of the city. Here there is much evidence of the Vietnam war, the War Museum is a harrowing visit and not for the faint-hearted, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. The neighbouring Cu Chi tunnels where thousands of Viet Cong soldiers hid, led in wait for the Americans...some horrific imagery here, you really feel like you're part of it, experiencing life as a Viet Cong soldier crawling through a small part of the 250km network of underground tunnels, feeling chlaustraphobic in the hot and stifling air. It's impossible to imagine what this place was like during the war and the sheer panic the local people must have felt. The tunnels really are testimony to the determination of the Vietnamese and the lengths they were willing to go to defend their country. The trip to Cu Chi ended with the opportunity to fire a selection of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, of course James & Joe jumped at the chance to fire a few rounds at random objects.

We ended our stay in Vietnam with a 4 day trip to Phu Quoc, an island in the Gulf of Thailand, controversially also claimed by the Cambodians. This is a relatively under-developed island, famous for fish sauce (apparently the best in the world) and a great place to relax, unwind and enjoy great seafood. We spent most of our days lazing on the beach and enjoying the sunset from the verandas of our beach huts, bliss.

After 3 weeks it was time for Emily and Joe to return to life in England and for James and I to continue with our nomadic life. We said our goodbyes over a few beers and an amazing 5 star eat-all-you-like buffet and caught an early 10 hour bus to Cambodia where our speedy visit of South East Asia continues.